291 - Impact of Surveillance and Offered Infectious Diseases Consults for Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia on Quality of Care Indicators

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) remains the leading cause of bloodstream infections and is associated with 20-40% mortality. Past studies demonstrated that Infectious Diseases (ID) consultation is associated with better adherence to quality of care indicators (QCIs), including follow-up blood cultures, echocardiography, early source control, and appropriate choice and duration of antibiotics. A 2014 quality improvement project at Medstar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) by Narsana et al. showed significantly better adherence to SAB QCIs among patients with ID consults and a non-significant trend towards lower mortality. In 2015, MWHC instituted a policy advocating ID consultation for all SAB patients, and active surveillance was performed by the ID Section to offer prompt consults prospectively. Our study aimed to assess the impact of this policy and the proactively offered ID consults on adherence to SAB QCIs and mortality rates amongst patients with SAB with and without ID consults.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 557 patients diagnosed with SAB between July 1st, 2015 - June 30th, 2018. Data included follow-up blood cultures, echocardiography, presence of a focal source of infection, use of appropriate antibiotics, measurement of vancomycin levels, duration of therapy, death during hospitalization, and presence of an ID consultation. Chi-Square and Fisher exact tests, and t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to analyze categorical and continuous variables, respectively.

Results: A total of 513 patients were included in the analysis, 88% (n=453) of whom had ID consultations. Patients with ID consultations were more likely to have a focal source of infection (84% vs. 50%, p < 0.0001), echocardiography (97% vs. 56%, p < 0.0001), use of a beta-lactam antibiotic for methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (90% vs 65%, p < 0.0001), and a longer duration of therapy (33 vs 9 days, p< 0.0001). Mortality was lower among patients with ID consults (16% vs. 23%, p=0.1495), but the difference was not statistically significant.Table 1


Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that ID consultation is associated with better adherence to SAB QCIs, with a trend towards lower mortality. Hospital systems should support mandatory ID consultation for patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.